Why Visio wireframes are outmoded (Was [Sigia-l] NYU IA class description link)

[Anders Ramsay]

On 7/11/05, Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com <Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com> wrote:
> I hate to ask the obvious, but what about non-web applications?  Let's
> talk traditional GUI, handheld, mobile and rich-client applications for
> a moment...
Maybe I didn't make that clear earlier, but I am not talking about
non-browser-based applications - that changes the entire discussion,
and XHTML/CSS wireframes may not be at all suitable for that

> I feel conceptual designs, prototypes and working end-products CAN be
> created successfully in different media.  It's like blueprints on paper,
> scale models from balsa wood, and final steel-girder skyscraper.
Yes, as far as prototypes, models, proofs of concepts, this may be the
case, but I'm talking about wireframes as specifications -again,
something I did not spell out earlier.

> I'll make another (maybe too) strong assertion: you can't serve two
> masters.  If you want to be/stay a great coder, you'll never be a great
> IA...and vice versa. 
Who said anything about being a great coder?  There is a huge
difference between understanding the principles of computer
programming and logic (something I think is absolutely necessary for
an IA) and being a coder (something I think is not at all necessary
for an IA.)

>I'll gripe about Visio any day, but until coding
> (well) in XHMTL/CSS gets easier, or until we get some decent dedicated
> IA tools, "rework" - converting from one media or format to another -
> will likely be necessary for most projects.
The very fact that it is not easy is actually a key reason why you
should be immersed in it - by producing the wireframes in Visio, we
are once removed from the actual technology and increase the risk of
producing something that simply will not work or makes sense in HTML -
we have to instead continually extrapolate based on our understanding
of the technology - while with the XHTML/CSS model, we stay close to
the technology, and can more quickly discover these issues..

And sitting around waiting for the technology to get easy or for some
perfect tool to come around is just not realistic
> 
> I'll also add that IAs who "force the hands" of other worthy team
> members aren't taking full advantage of the skills those team members
> can contribute to a better end product.  IA shouldn't be about the "lone
> genius" handing off deliverables that "lock in" or "lock out"
> contributions by other team members.
> 
Yes, agreed (I thought that's what I was saying earlier)